Friday, June 30, 2017

Toonfomercial: Froot Loops debuts (1963)

Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal turns 55 next year. So does, it seems, Toucan Sam, who made one of his first appearances in this next entry. While most people think of Toucan as having a British accent (Paul Frees and Maurice LaMarche have done mimics of Ronald Colman to create Sam's distinctive voice), that wasn't always the case.

As you'll hear, Toucan Sam was originally as American as apple pie, thanks to---who else?---Mel Blanc.

Of course, Blanc had a long standing association with another major player of the day, General Foods, since the Looney Tunes crew shilled for Tang and Kool-Aid, and, later, Post launched the Pebbles line of cereals, still endorsed to this day by Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble. Not sure if Mel did any other spots for Kellogg's while doing other Hanna-Barbera characters.